The county has decided to make a security officer position at the West Annex permanent.
When county offices reopened to the public, the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office started providing security at the Johnson County courthouse’s West Annex to help with potential stresses surrounding social distancing. Employees and elected officials appreciated the support the officer was able to provide, so Sheriff Duane Burgess asked for the funds to enable him to make the position permanent, he said.
To pay the officer for the rest of the year, the Johnson County Council this week approved $16,000, a little less than half of the employee’s total annual salary of $38,767. The extra funds were needed because any extra hands Burgess has to spare for security are tied up in looking after inmates and escorting construction workers around the jail during construction, he told the council.
The officer is dubbed a “special deputy,” and the pay and training are commensurate with a corrections officer, the non-merit title that jail deputies hold. The officer will serve county employees in various ways, Burgess said.
“From working with the public who enter the building to assisting the employees who work in the West Annex; we must ensure the safety of the public as well as our employees,” he said. “They will patrol the halls, monitor the cameras and guide people through the building to their requested county office.”
So far, the special deputy was instrumental in assisting the treasurer and auditor’s offices with complaints about taxes, and provided extra support during public meetings that were held during the pandemic, Burgess said.
He expects to choose an existing corrections officer to serve in the annex security role, and hire a new corrections officer to serve the jail as soon as possible, he said.
Sheriff’s office-provided security is already used at the Johnson County courthouse, the North Annex and juvenile courts. About seven deputies are assigned or report to those locations daily, but more or less may be assigned depending on daily needs, Burgess said.
The sheriff’s office plans to request additional staff in the 2021 budget, he said. New employees will be needed to staff the jail once the expansion is complete late in the year, he said.
Jail capacity is 322, but the population has crept as high as 458. The new capacity will be 586, but Burgess is hopeful the jail doesn’t reach that number for at least another five years, he said.
The sheriff’s office hasn’t decided yet how many new employees it will request, and Burgess said he plans to work with the council to determine the number.
In addition to more corrections officers, staff will be needed to start or expand enrichment programs since more space means more programming, Burgess said. The number requested will reflect what is needed to operate safely, efficiently, he said.
